Stock Breeding on the West Coast.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 100, 28 April 1888, Page 5

Stock Breeding on the West Coast.

(From>a correspondent of the N.Z. Farmer.)

', I have often heard it said by old settlers that the West Coast is not adapted for pro- . fitablo sheep farming. Why such a fallacy 1 should e^ist <I know not; or why. the statement should 'have gained currency it would ibe equally difficult to answer. "Deed s 1 speak louder than words," I have heard , said, so to prove that sheep farming is successful on .this, coast, I will give you 1" readers the following: notes on one of the moat successful sheep farms, Mr R. B. Hamilton's, Manutalii. Leaving Hawera on a fine afternoon I made ray way towards ■Manutahi, distant by road about ten miles. .The road passes through land of ; Quality, and on both sides rich I^iriant grjxsa wits to be seen. The farms are all neatly kqpt, and many of the residences of different farmers are hand tome buildings. VYLyey noticing the surrounding country I could .nob help admiring the beautiful district I vas travelling through. Nature has certainly lavished her charms on this part of the colony, and to those who care about picturesque .scenery, the journey between Hawera nx*d Manutahi is worth more than a passing glance. When I turned off the main south road to reach Mr Hamilton's farm, a grated panorama presented itself.' To the left id tbe.sea, whilst to;the right. skirts the bu.vh, which runs along- the whole length o\ c the coast from Wanganui, the open Sand averaging about seven miles broad. Looking Cowards Hawera I observed undulating dowun, clovhed in a mantle of rich green, and dotted liere and there with cattle and jiheop. Boyond Hawera, about thirty five miles from .Manutahi, stands our pride- Mount Egiuo!)i. Stately and grand the beautifuii cone-shaped mountain looks this briglit afternoon, tree snow on the summit being tinged by tJjo sun's last rays of' autumn-gold. The seet.vo is one which has t.o be seen to be admired. To try to describe it is only a feeble effort at attempting an impossibility. Standing on an eminence, a mile to the seaward of Manutahi, is MrR. B Hamilton's homesveacj. The farm consists of 400 acres of reaAly good land, and the whole is, with the exception of a, uaddook sown with rape, in good grass. One portion of the farm has1 never been plo.ughod, and the grass is as good as on the land which has been broken up. The uncultivated land was surface yown, and fche grass has grown for over twenty years, and looks as healthy now as one could wish for. There is a specieK of trefoil growing here which is not generally knowu. The blades are a little larger than those oi' white clover, and in the centre of the leaf there is a dark spot. I was informed that yheep are very partial to this grass. The seod is jjaid to have come from England, coming in compressed horse feed used by troop hordes during the war. A short distance from this paddock are two natural lakes, where I noticed wild ducks in great numbers. Ib was in 1367 that Mr Hamilton commenced sheep farming. The farm was at that time, the owner assured me, in a much different state than at present. High fern, flux, and tutu covered the ground, but apart from the dense growth, farming on this coast was a decidedly risky speculation. The natives were troublesome, and it was a hard time for settlers. On one part or Mr Hamilton's farm (near the Manawapou river), was situated the largest redoubt on the coast. The Imperial troops built it, and afterwards a detachment of the colonial forces inhabited the fort. Now, all that marks the spot is a slight hollow in the ground. Sheep browse on the land which, a few years ago, was occupied by armed troops. " Did the natives ever compel you to leave your land?" I asked Mr Hamilton. "Only once," he replied, "and then I lost all my stock, house, and everything I possessed. Tho Maoris came to my house and gave me half an hour to be off. Together with other settlers, who were ordered off their land, we started for the Patea blockhouse. When a short distance from my homestead we perceived my house in flames, and the Maoris coming after us. We ran as fast aa we could, but it was the fate of one of our number never to reach Patea. Ho was shot by one of our pursuers, The natives followed us to Patea, and we were constantly exchanging shots all the way down. That was the only narrow escape I had on the farm, but when a volunteer, I think I was often in more danger." I give these details merely to show what the pioneers on this coasthad. to contend against. Mr Hamilton's reminiscences of the Maori war arc most interesting, but as it is farmers who read this journal I must confine myself to farming notes. Mr Hamilton is a well-known breeder of stud sheep, and his flock of Lincolns are the best I have seen on the coast. In tho show-yard they have been most successful, carrying off many valuable prizes, including the New Zealand , Loan and Mercantile Company's Cups, and at the Wanganui, Egmont, Manawatu, and Patea shows, Mr Hamilton's sheep have proved their superiority over other breeders' animals. The first stud strains were obtained from sheep descended from Mr J. B. Suttpn's (Farnborough, Invercargill) flock, Mr Sutton being most favourably known throughout the colony as a breeder of stud Lincolns. Afterwards, additions were made from the flock of Mr H. J. Hall, Canterbury, and later from Mr McLean,

Auckland. Only a few days prior to my i visit, Mr Hamilton had returned from In- ■ . vercargill with six ewes and two rams, these again coming from Mr Sutton's flock. About twelve months ago, Mr Hamilton when in Australia, purchased aLincolnram, Monarch (bred by Forsyth Bros., Victoria), this sheep being awarded second champion prize at the Australian Sheep Breeders. As- | sociation's show at Melbourne, 18S7. ; I Monarch's full brother was champion at tho j Royal Agricultural Society's show, Melbourne, the same year. Mr Hamilton informed me that he could have purchased this sheep at a lower figure than Monarch, but preferred the latter. The sheep bought by Mr Hamilton from breeders "" in this colony were descended from noted prizefcakers. The sheep purchased from Mr Hall, Canterbury, were from ewea bred by Mr Ncedham, Lincolnshire, the rams being descended from Nocton Heath flock, Lincolnshire. One of the latter obtained Ist prize at the annual Lincolnshire Show, 2nd prize at the Royal Agricultural Society's Show, and Ist prize at Malbon. The sheep which arrived at Manutuhi just prior to my visit arc-by well-knosvn South Island rams owned by Mr Sutton. The new arrivals are certainly grand sheep. One ot the .rams is by Young Volunteer, the other by SergeantMajor, this ram being a Avellknown prizetaker in theuSouth Island, and the ewes are by. Sergeant Major, Rifleman, and Lsttlo Winter. The rams are decidedly an acqnisition to the district, and are splendid specimens of the Lincoln type. They are well proportioned, evenly fleeced with wool of good texture and lustre, stand well on short legs, neck short, and briefly they are just the stamp of rams to improve the breed of sheep on this coast. In this district I have noticed that sheep are inclined to grow too long in the legs, and the neck also is i stretched out too far. The sheep obtained from tbeflock of Mr McLean, Auckland, were descended from English prizetakers ; one of theram3,No.4,camefromMrMcLesn'sfloek. i Thisnjm_was shown by Mr Hamilton and was awarded champion at Patea 1882, following • year champion at Wanganui against thirteen competitors and champion again afr' Patea the next year. Mr Hamilton considers that his best ewes were got by' Number 4. When this ram wa.s v shorn, J the year's fleece was weighed, the weight' being 251bs. A friend of Mr Hamilton's i sent some of this wool Home, and received- \ a letter afterwards, stating that the quality', could not be excelled in England. Mr J.: McLennan, -manager for Hon. Robert^ Campbell, at Oroua, Foxton, writing to, Mr Hamilton regarding sheep purchased' from the latter gentleman, stated that' the fleeces from the ram hoggets weighed 211bs, ewe hoggets 151b soz.' At the recent ram fair at Wanganui Mr Hamil-; ton's sheep were in great demand, one of \ them bringing the highest price, thirty-one j guineas. Seeing your remarks upon the ■ Romney Marsh ram and a Lincoln ewe • cross, I asked Mr Hamilton his opinion. | He said : " I do not see aDy advantage to; be gained, as regards the quality of the '■ wool. The cross would not improve it, or ! would it improve the quality of the animal ■ as mutton. Those who have Romney! Marsh sheep are coming back to Lincoln.", j Lungworm is unknown at Manutahi, and'j Mr Hamilton believes that lung-worm;' is another name for starvation. ..Sheepi always on one kind of pasture and nob. shifted are sure to become unwell, and tho! sickness will go on until the complaint! turns into a disease. In Mr Hamilton's i idea the watery nature of the perennial i rye-grass is the cause of the prevalence of ! lung-worm, if it is lung-worm which sheep j suffer from in this district. Mr Hamilton j doubts whether it is. He has noticed that; sheep, if allowed to get in poor condition, ■>. are allowed to run in a perennial rye j paddock, that if rain comes and gives the ■ grass a start the sheep will die off whole- \ sale. Bufc'if Bhe"ep seem sick and they get a change of food., ib is wonderful tho difference will come over them. Mr Hamilton believes in constantly changing sheep froni one paddock to another. As a pasture for cheep he sows sheep's fescue, yarrow (this grass he maintains is an excellent tonic for sheep), perennial rye, and cocksfoot, with cow : gi'ass and red and white clovers. A paddock of rape is always available for a change. In 1875 Mr Hamilton had a hard job to obtain rape seed, And ultimately it was procured at New Plymouth, at a cost; of 9d per lb. (now it is 2d in this district), When the rape was grown, the paddock was stocked with culls, and in a short \ time the culls were better than any of ■ the sheep in the mob they were picked | out of. As a sheep farmer Mr Hamilton : wag the first io this district. The ! first shipment of sheep received at Patea j were for Mr Hamilton, and the first wool ; exported from this side of the Waitotara j river was sent away by this gentleman. : This is now twenty years since. For years ' Mr Hamilton's aim has been to obtain the best) strains of Lincoln sheep, and his ' efforts have certainly been crowned with ', success. Viewing his stud flock, and look- • ing at them carefully, one cannot pick a bad • one from among them,. They are as near j to the perfect type of Lincolns as one will j see in the colonies, and the colonial stud flock that would beat Mr Hamilton's would be really good sheep, in obtaining the j best stud sheep Mr Hamilton displays j great enterprise. Fancy bringing sheep from Australia ! Most farmers would not go if they got the sheep for uobhing —they would sooner ask their nearest neighbour if he had a ram for sale. If there were not men in the colony of Mr Hamilton's stamp ■ the breed of sheep would soon degenerate. ' Mr Hamilton attended the sale of the Hon. M. Holmes's stud sheep at Oamaru on the 2H3th March last, but did not get suited. Tlie rams, he informed me, were really .splendid specimens of show-yard animals, bus they were too well cared for, being housed and clothed. His stud sheep have to ti\ke their chance, arid " rough it" like the general flock. When in Christchurch, returning home, .Mr Hamilton purchased two i'arris from the New Zealand Land Compscny, but through an error his sheep were sent to the Chatham Islands. Mr Hamilton keeps a few cattle, about fifty in all. I nofveed a number of useful looking draughts on the farm, also some stylish looking hack colts by Volunteer. Mr Hamilton doos not enter into grain growing extensively. One year he tried it with fairly satisfactory results. He kept an account of expenditure and return, and showed me the table. The paddock contained 43 acres. The total expenditure was £135 15s. Total return £240 13s 4cJ. Profit (less interest on . land), £104 18s 4d. The straw was not set down as an asset, chough it was a valuable one. Mr Hamilton tried fruit growing, but found that without an abundance of shelter the trees were a failure. He has a piece of ground about an acre in extent, surrounded by a high belt of shelter, and hedges running acrossin the inside, dividing the ground into squares about one chain by half'a chain. He is soon going to plant the ground with trees, Near the residence a plantation of blue gums is to be seen. These grew too tall, and afforded poor shelter. When the trees were about 40 feet high he had them cut down. Small shoots soon sprung from the stumps, soon developing into thick saplings, two or three • growing from each stump, and they form capital shelter. The trees have to be cut down when the sap is down. The buildings on £he farm are substantial, the dwelling being a nice building from which a capital view of the surrounding landscapa can be obtained. Shearing shed, granaxy, stable, implement house, and milking Ehecls are all under one roof, this large building being a short distance from the residence In concluding, any person who doubt. whether sheep farming on the West Coast is not successful, should pay Mr Hamilton a visit. There he will ccc t farm capable of carrying four to. five sheep pec acre all the year round, besides cattle and. bqrees. The appearance of the sheep will prove that cheep farming is profitable.